Cockerel looking pullet

[Csteffennsam]

How old?
I see vague hackles but the saddles still look round and hen like. Is it crowing, mounting, acting roostery?

A little over 5 months

 

[nuthatched]

A little over 5 months

At 5 months, I think that's a pullet, laying (voila! mystery egg) or soon to lay. but you can also give her a time in the parrot cage to see if she is a she.

 

[Csteffennsam]

At 5 months, I think that's a pullet, laying (voila! mystery egg) or soon to lay. but you can also give her a time in the parrot cage to see if she is a she.

I think I will put her in the cage, mainly so I don’t have to hunt down that egg outside everyday lol! When do they figure that part out?

 

[nuthatched]

I think I will put her in the cage, mainly so I don’t have to hunt down that egg outside everyday lol! When do they figure that part out?

A lot of people add golf balls or ping pong balls to the nests so they get the point, you might have to show them where.

 

[Csteffennsam]

A lot of people add golf balls or ping pong balls to the nests so they get the point, you might have to show them where.

I have ceramic eggs, one in each nest. So far I’ve only found the chalky new eggs outside so I’m hoping that locking her in the cage might also rectify that issue and hopefully her body will adjust to laying and not add that extra layer of calcium

 

[nuthatched]

I have ceramic eggs, one in each nest. So far I’ve only found the chalky new eggs outside so I’m hoping that locking her in the cage might also rectify that issue and hopefully her body will adjust to laying and not add that extra layer of calcium

Oh, I see. If you're finding eggs just lying in the yard, sometimes fresh eggs can get stuck to a hens bum fluff and falls off in a few minutes, I didn't know it happened until I saw one of my hens with an egg stuck on her.

 

[Csteffennsam]

I have ceramic eggs, one in each nest. So far I’ve only found the chalky new eggs outside so I’m hoping that locking her in the cage might also rectify that issue and hopefully her body will adjust to laying and not add that extra layer of calcium

She is definitely low on the pecking order so her leeriness to the other hens pecks might be keeping her off of the nests also, she might feel safer in the cage and once she’s forced to lay there she may continue and then at least she’d be laying in the coop and not out on the ground… we’ll see what happens

 

[Artichoke Lover]

I have ceramic eggs, one in each nest. So far I’ve only found the chalky new eggs outside so I’m hoping that locking her in the cage might also rectify that issue and hopefully her body will adjust to laying and not add that extra layer of calcium

New layers take a bit to get their cycle figured out. They don’t always seem to realize when they are about to lay an egg. I’ve watched several mine drop an egg without even stopping walking. They usually sort it out in about a month or less

 

[Capto Veritas]

I would say she.

 

[Csteffennsam]

I think it’s a cockerel after all. I have since had a bobcat coming in during the day stealing a good number of chickens. We made a dog kennel run for all the chickens. I haven’t found any of the chalky eggs since, so that part is still a mystery but there have only been six laying hens and six eggs a day in the run/coop. I had put the questionable one in the parrot cage for a few days and no eggs. He is a strange looking cockerel… but still a cockerel